Remember the story earlier this year about Shadid Khan, the very private owner of Flex-N-Gate Corp., buying a majority stake in NFL's St. Louis Rams? It looks like the deal may fall apart. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting today that Stan Kroenke, a real estate and pro sports franchise investor, plans to exercise his right of first refusal to buy the 60 percent stake in the Rams that Khan planned to buy from Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. Kroenke already owns 40 percent of the Rams. This isn't a done deal. NFL rules bar owners from having a majority interest in an NFL team if they own a majority of another major-league team in another market -- and Kroenke currently owns NBA's Denver Nuggets and NHL's Colorado Avalanche. Khan is still interested in buying the Rams, if the NFL won't approve Kroenke's plan. According to the Post-Dispatch, Khan made this statement about the situation:
Earlier this evening, Stan advised me that he was going to pursue that opportunity. I have had the chance to get to know Stan over the past 60 days. As I told Stan during our conversation earlier this evening, I enjoy his company, admire his success in sports, and certainly respect his right to try to purchase the Rosenbloom family's interest in the Rams.Flex-N-Gate is an automotive component supplier that moved into plastics in 2001 when it bought Ventra Group Inc. of Oakville, Ontario.
